EU leaders reach agreement on bloc's top jobs

European Union leaders agreed Tuesday to name Frenchwoman Christine Lagarde as the new head of the European Central Bank and sealed a deal on filling the other four top jobs in the bloc after tortuous marathon talks exposed their deepening divisions.

“The European Council has agreed on the future leadership of the EU institutions,” said Donald Tusk, chairman of the EU leaders’ talks.

German Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen, an ally of Chancellor Angela Merkel, would become head of the European Commission, the EU executive, under the deal reached in Brussels.

Belgium’s liberal caretaker prime minister, Charles Michel, would replace Tusk as the next chairman of EU leaders’ summits and be tasked with building compromises between the often fractious 28 member states.